5,475 feet above the desert floor. Dante's View, Death Valley. Print

I began painting in the early fall of 2020. Much to my surprise, by February 2021 I had been admitted into my first juried exhibition. And so, very late in life, I discovered the joy of artistic expression. Blessed with a good education, I often used reading as a way to engage with the world around me, and I took comfort in writing. But something happened recently -- all of a sudden, the direct experience of powerfully shifting moods in the natural landscape took on color. After taking about twelve painting lessons for beginners, the corona virus pandemic hit the world and shut it down. Unable to move about freely, I was stuck in my home and was left only with treasured photos of beautiful landscapes, taken by myself or close friends. These photos became windows into a reality no longer available to me. I missed that special sense of "aliveness" when immersed in a spectacularly moving natural environment. I felt the need to re-present that reality in ways visceral. Again, painting seemed the logical route to take. But without access to formal studio lessons, I was left to my own devices. As a result, a technique of my own developed. As the mood of a landscape embraces me, it transforms into a color, which I apply across the entire canvas. Then rapid brushstrokes pull me skyward, and dashes, dabs, dots and more strokes of bold color take me across all four corners of the canvas -- here, there, everywhere. As the painting begins to emerge and to breathe, it pulls viewers in, just as it had pulled me in. Some have said that the experience is, at once, energizing and tranquil. Perhaps even meditative, commanding a long gaze.